


Oliver's Journal: Buried Deep Inside

by storyteller0311



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: F/M, Gen, Oliver Queen Keeps a Journal, Post Arrow 3x23 Fic, Post Arrow 4x15 Fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-18
Updated: 2016-04-24
Packaged: 2018-05-27 10:03:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 5,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6280180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/storyteller0311/pseuds/storyteller0311
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by a Tumblr post by @booklove22, this series appears on my Tumblr (@storyteller0311) as visual journal entries.</p>
<p>What if Oliver always intended on writing everything down and sharing it with Felicity? As a wedding gift perhaps? And now, instead of being a romantic gesture, that book will bring a broken Olicity back together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. July 5, 2015

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by a Tumblr post by @booklove22, this series appears on my Tumblr (@storyteller0311) as visual journal entries.
> 
> The series in its original form, still ongoing, can be found here: http://storyteller0311.tumblr.com/oliversjournal
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any of its characters.

**July 5, 2015**

Did you know you talk in your sleep? You babble. About everything and nothing. About your love of pandas and fear of kangaroos, about your latest failed omelet, about your favorite computer. Tonight you babbled that you love me more than Wi-Fi.

I love you more than arrows. And, really, everything else. I hope you know that. How much I love you.

I know I don't say it enough, even here alone together on this new adventure. But I do. I love you.

When I bought this notebook last week I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it. I just...liked it. But tonight as I watched you watch the fireworks from our balcony, I knew what I was going to do.

Not today. Not tomorrow. But someday soon I'm going to ask you to marry me. And I hope you say yes.

And after we stand before our family and friends and promise to love one another forever, I want to be able to give you this book. A book full of the stories I've never told you. The stories you need to know, even though they're not happy.


	2. July 9, 2015

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a Tumblr post by @booklove22, this series appears on my Tumblr (@storyteller0311) as visual journal entries.
> 
> The series in its original form, still ongoing, can be found here: http://storyteller0311.tumblr.com/oliversjournal
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any of its characters.

**July 9, 2015**

I know you were watching Titanic when I came back from the market. You don't have to turn it off the minute I come in the room, you know. Don't worry. I can take it. I won't fall apart.

In a lot of ways, the sinking of the Gambit is both the most and the least traumatic thing that's happened to me. It's what shattered my ignorant, selfish view of the world. It's what started this nightmare. But when I compare it to the rest...that trauma was tame. And I know that sounds pretty terrible. Comparing deaths, comparing traumas. But if I had known then what was waiting for me on that island...

Burying my father on that beach was hard. He'd been dead for days. Sometimes I'm surprised I had the strength to do it. As soon as I placed the last stone over his body, that's when it happened. An arrow through my chest. Out of nowhere.

The first scar.

I figured that was it, that I was dead. And as I fell to the ground all I could think was all my thoughts of survival, of my promise to my father, of being like Tom Hanks in Cast Away...there were just the foolishness of a foolish boy.


	3. July 12, 2015

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a Tumblr post by @booklove22, this series appears on my Tumblr (@storyteller0311) as visual journal entries.
> 
> The series in its original form, still ongoing, can be found here: http://storyteller0311.tumblr.com/oliversjournal
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any of its characters.

**July 12, 2015**

When I was 9, my favorite movie was The Three Musketeers – the one with Chris O'Donnell, Kiefer Sutherland and Tim Curry.

I wanted to be a Musketeer and I begged to go as one for Halloween that year. I loved the adventure of it all and the cool tunics they wore. But most of all, I loved the sword fighting. I just thought it was awesome – all the running and the jumping back and forth between the good guys and the bad guys.

I don't need to explain to you why sword fighting lost its appeal. Not after Slade, and Mom, and Ra's... But swords lost their appeal long before Slade ever came to Starling.

Lian Yu was crawling with mercenaries – that was why Yao Fei shot me. To help me, to protect me from the danger. But I couldn't fathom the kind of danger he meant. So when the mercenaries captured me one day and took me to their camp, a small part of me was giddy with the possibility of any kind of civilization. I mean, after surviving a shipwreck and watching my father shoot himself in front of me, the image of their leader, Edward Fyers, sitting there drinking soda out of a real glass was almost surreal.

My hope was short lived. Fyers could have cared less that I was stranded on Lian Yu, that my family was rich, that I was Oliver Queen. All he cared about was Yao Fei and his location.

He showed me a photo of Yao Fei in a military uniform and explained that Lian Yu was a prison and Yao Fei was a prisoner. When I claimed not to know Yao Fei, Fyers didn't believe me, called me foolish. Said I'd change my mind while begging for death.

He called in a man. He was wearing a mask and had a sword strapped to his back. I would learn later that his name was Billy Wintergreen.

It was torture, what he did. Cutting me to inflict maximum pain, but not enough to actually threaten my life. The sword and knives he used were bad enough. But his eyes through that mask... Those are what's seared into my memory.

Cold. Mad. Lethal.

But I didn't let him break me. I didn't beg for death. I resolved to live.


	4. July 18, 2015

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a Tumblr post by @booklove22, this series appears on my Tumblr (@storyteller0311) as visual journal entries.
> 
> The series in its original form, still ongoing, can be found here: http://storyteller0311.tumblr.com/oliversjournal
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any of its characters.

**July 18, 2015**

I'm sorry I laughed. Really. I didn't mean to.

But the way you whispered "Please let it not be a ghost" over and over as you walked down the hall was so funny I couldn't help myself.

And I'm sorry I startled you when I started laughing. I couldn't sleep and didn't want to disturb you, so I went to sit in the living room. Sometimes when I can't sleep I do that. Just sit there and listen to the silence.

But as much as I laughed, know that I wasn't laughing because I thought what you said was silly or that I think ghosts don't exist. Because I do.

When I was captured by Fyers on the island – after the torture – Yao Fei rescued me and took me back to the cave. He left me there, trapping me inside, and said he was going to lead Fyers and his men away. I don't know how long I was alone. Probably days.

I was cold and thirsty and hungry, and I was sure I was going to die. There was enough brush to keep a small fire going but after awhile I only had the book, with its blank pages.

Even though it was the only thing I had of my father's, I was desperate. So I started ripping pages out and burning them.

I had probably only ripped out two when I felt this tug on my shoulder and there he was, in the cave with me. My father.

He looked just as he had before he died and he was angry. Saying that he asked me, begged me to survive. He reached into his pocket and took out the gun he had shot himself with saying there was one bullet left.

I didn't want to die. But I didn't know how I would ever survive. It didn't seem possible anymore, no matter what my father wanted. No matter what I had promised. And I just wanted it to be quick. So I put the gun to my head and pulled the trigger.

And when nothing happened, I was both devastated and relieved. Of course nothing was going to happen because the gun wasn't actually there. But that didn't mean my father wasn't real. His presence, his words, they echoed. They echoed long after I held the pages of the book over the fire to see words appearing.

They're echoing still.


	5. August 5, 2015

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a Tumblr post by @booklove22, this series appears on my Tumblr (@storyteller0311) as visual journal entries.
> 
> The series in its original form, still ongoing, can be found here: http://storyteller0311.tumblr.com/oliversjournal
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any of its characters.

**August 5, 2015**

Do you realize how beautiful you are? 

When we reached the top of the ridge this afternoon on our hike and you saw the waterfall across the way, your face absolutely lit up. You are so beautiful. And watching the wonder and awe and happiness radiate from you absolutely took my breath away.

If I had known that you'd never seen a waterfall I would have taken you to Venezuela when we were traveling to see Angel Falls. Some day we'll go there.

I've had a mixed experience with waterfalls...

Yao Fei eventually returned to the cave where he'd barricaded me in. But he didn't come alone. Fyers was with him. Yao Fei had captured him and wanted to use his captivity as leverage to get me off the island. But it was all a trap. Fyers' men had followed Yao Fei and when we left the cave they ambushed us and captured him.

I struggled with one of Fyers' men and we both ended up tumbling down a hill,the mercenary dying in the fall.

I took his clothes and balaclava and infiltrated the camp looking for Yao Fei. But that was a trap too.

I ended up in a jeep with one of Fyers' men, but before we could drive off, Fyers appeared and ended up in the jeep too. He questioned me and I thought I had convinced him. But, of course, I hadn't. As soon as we reached our destination, a barracks where prisoners were kept, Fyers punched me and revealed my identity. But that wasn't the only thing he revealed. The other mercenary was none other than Yao Fei.

Anger. Disbelief. Hopelessness. I wasn't even sure how I felt. I thought maybe Yao Fei had a plan, that is was all a ruse. I clung to that possibility and when he unlocked the cage I was in I had a glimmer of hope. But instead of freedom he took me to a gathering of Fyers' men who were watching Billy Wintergreen beat another man to death. And when that prisoner was dead, it was my turn. But instead of Wintergreen, my opponent was Yao Fei.

My struggles were fruitless and within minutes he had me in a headlock, his fingers crushing my windpipe and digging into my neck.

As I lost consciousness I saw nothing. My life didn't flash before my eyes, I didn't feel sad or afraid. It was just blackness. Bleakness. The exact opposite of what happened when Ra's drove that sword through my chest and pushed me off the mountain. Where I thought of the people I love. Where your face was the last thing my mind yearned for.

But I didn't die this time either though.

I woke up in the water with a map in my pocket. Someone had pushed me over a cliff next to a waterfall. When he choked me, Yao Fei must have somehow rendered me unconscious to the point where I appeared dead and slipped the map in my pocket.

It was of Lian Yu.

And on it, written in Chinese next to a X, was one word.

Survive.


	6. August 12, 2015

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a Tumblr post by @booklove22, this series appears on my Tumblr (@storyteller0311) as visual journal entries.
> 
> The series in its original form, still ongoing, can be found here: http://storyteller0311.tumblr.com/oliversjournal
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any of its characters.

**August 12, 2015**

We need to do “Midnight Margaritas” more often. Especially if you agree to dance around the kitchen in those short shorts every time. The singing of “put the lime in the coconut” song is also required.

Every time you sang the word coconut last night all I could think about was when you and Dig came to look for me on Lian Yu. I knew how upset and irritated you were with me, even if you didn’t really say it. I ran. And for that I’ll be forever sorry. You thought I didn’t care that you had tracked me down.

I did care. And I was happy to see you. More than I understood at the time. More than you’ll ever know. And when you said that I could at least offer you a water or a coconut, you made me smile for the first time since Tommy died. And I almost…almost turned around and kissed you right then. I should have. I don’t know why I didn’t.

It’s probably a good thing though – that I didn’t kiss you there. That plane is not a place of good memories. Not now. Not after what Slade became, not after Shado died.

That’s where the map led, if you were wondering. To the plane.

Based on how most of my other interaction with Slade Wilson have gone, it’s not surprising that he literally jumped from the rook of the plane and ambushed me the first time I met him. 

And a short time later he knocked me out and tied me to a chair, having every intention to kill me. 

It was only after I dislocated my own wrist to slip my hands out of the restraints that he finally realized I wasn’t only a liability.

The truth is, as much as Slade has hurt me and as dangerous a person as he is, I probably would have never made it off that island if he hadn’t taught me how – challenged me – to fight.


	7. August 16, 2015

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a Tumblr post by @booklove22, this series appears on my Tumblr (@storyteller0311) as visual journal entries.
> 
> The series in its original form, still ongoing, can be found here: http://storyteller0311.tumblr.com/oliversjournal
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any of its characters.

**August 16, 2015**

You scared the hell out of me today. That kind of sudden, helpless fear where you are powerless to help.

Why did you think climbing out onto the roof to wash our bedroom window was a good idea? I thought you were terrified of heights! When I ran up the driveway and you saw me and lost your balance, my heart stopped. And it didn't start again until you grabbed the window frame and steadied yourself.

I've come close to losing you before and each of those times I've felt fear, but I've also had the power to save you, to protect you. But not today.

It was close to the fear I felt when you stepped on that land mine on Lian Yu. But even then, at least, I could help. Had you fallen today I would have never reached you in time. No Tarzan swing to the rescue.

You scared the hell out of me that day too, you know. When you stepped on that land mine. Even though I knew I could help, there was still no guarantee that my plan would work. 

Ironically, all I could think about in that moment were the words "be still." I repeated it over and over in my mind when I saw you and as I swung down from that tree.

_"Be still, Felicity. Be still."_

The reason the words were ironic is because Slade was the one who said them to me. If I'd only known how soon he would re-emerge into my life...

Slade said them to me when I stepped on a land mine on Lian Yu. We were on our way to the landing strip where a supply plane was due to arrive. It was our ticket off the island if we could infiltrate the control tower.

We were only about half way there when I stepped on the land mine – left over by the Japanese during World War 2. I thought I was screwed. How was I ever going to escape unscathed? Slade hadn't even had a chance to do anything when a group of Fyers' men startd approaching. To my horror, Slade abandoned me. Not knowing what to do, I threw my balaclava over my head and once again pretended to be one of Fyers' men.

The men bought my story, but before anything else could happen, Slade flew out of the brush and killed all of them.

He looked at me very seriously and said "be still" before rolling one of the men's bodies over onto the landline and pushing me out of the way. 

It happened so quickly that I almost didn't have time to think about it. The same way I knew that I had to lift you off the land mine when you stepped on it.

I didn't have to think.

I may not have realized I loved you then, but I knew I'd do anything to keep you safe.

And I plan on doing that for the rest of my life. Just – please – not more climbing out onto the roof.


	8. August 23, 2015

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a Tumblr post by @booklove22, this series appears on my Tumblr (@storyteller0311) as visual journal entries.
> 
> The series in its original form, still ongoing, can be found here: http://storyteller0311.tumblr.com/oliversjournal
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any of its characters.

**August 23, 2015**

Even though you're right next to me every day and every night, I miss your voice in my ear sometimes. Miss you guiding me from the Foundry while I'm out on patrol. You were my conscience, my beacon always confirming which way to turn and how to get home. Even before I knew I loved you, I knew that. Even if I didn't show it. 

I missed your voice those weeks I was away in Nanda Parbat. But after I saw you in Starling...it was agony. Our night together was burned into my mind, but even more so was the look on your face when you came to trade Nyssa for Lyla. I wanted to call out to you, to say that I was sorry, to tell you I never meant to hurt you, to just hear you guide me again.

After everything was over, I told you that I had a recurring dream about us driving off into the sunset. That wasn't the only dream I had though.

I would dream of finding a phone in a darkened room, of picking it up and dialing your number. You always answered, but I could never reply. I would just stand there, the receiver pressed to my ear, my voice silent. But you always knew it was me. Always would say "come home Oliver."

It's a fantasy I'd have on the island. Of a miracle. Of someone knowing where I was, of someone finding me. But that never happened.

The incident with the phone did though. Sort of. You know well that I clung to a photo of Laurel, of that last vestige I had of home. Of a fantasy life I had ruined over and over but that I naively thought might still be possible. When Slade and I made it to the air control tower, there was a phone. Slade was outside and I picked up the phone and dialed Laurel's number.

When she picked up I froze. I just listened as she said "Hello" repeatedly, a laugh in her voice. She didn't know it was me. Didn't know I was out there in hell. And why should she have? Why should she have cared? I had betrayed her. I killed her sister. Her voice brought no comfort, not the kind I had imagined it would. Instead it just brought emptiness. Because my life was irrevocably changed and even if we succeeded in getting on that supply plane, there was no going back. Not really.

Slade caught me and smashed the phone before I could say anything. But it didn't matter, because more time wouldn't have made a difference. I wouldn't have spoken. And she would have hung up.

When I had those dreams of the phone in Nanda Parbat Felicity, I thought of that incident all those years ago and I realized something.

If I had actually been faced with a phone, if I had heard your voice, I wouldn't have let anyone smash the phone. And I know you wouldn't have hung up.

And I clung to that, knowing that you'd be the voice in my head until the very end.


	9. August 28, 2015

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a Tumblr post by @booklove22, this series appears on my Tumblr (@storyteller0311) as visual journal entries.
> 
> The series in its original form, still ongoing, can be found here: http://storyteller0311.tumblr.com/oliversjournal
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any of its characters.

**August 28, 2015**

I think you broke my hand. No, really. When the nurse grabbed that needle and leaned her head down I swear I heard bones crack. And if that's just from a splinter, I'm worried about what will happen when...

Anyway.

I'm sorry she had to use the big needle, but if you had told me you had a splinter the size of Texas in your foot instead of hiding it and hoping it would just go away, it wouldn't have gotten infected. I could have taken care of it – without the big needle – and we wouldn't have ended up in the ER.

You can squeeze my hand as much as you want though. I'll gladly endure broken bones if it means you're okay.

I dug a bullet out of Slade's arm once. He made me tie him up when I did it so he wouldn't bash my head in. It was after we tried and failed to get off the island on the supply plane.

After we took the control tower, I couldn't bring myself to just leave Yao Fei – even if he had betrayed me. So I went to rescue him, but I got caught by Fyers' men.

They brought me to Wintergreen and I thought for a moment that I was in for another round of torture. But instead Fyers informed me that instead of torture it was to be an execution.

Instead of leaving my foolish ass on that island, Slade came and rescued me. He blew up part of the camp and then killed Wintergreen, but got shot during our escape. Needless to say, we didn't get on the plane which saw the explosions and didn't land.

I used to think about that day a lot. Of what would have happened if I had not gone back for Yao Fei. If we had got on that plane.

A lot of bad things that we've gone through wouldn't have happened. But some of them still would have and there wouldn't have been an Arrow to stop them.

But a lot of good things wouldn't have happened either. And I think, deep down, I'd live through the bad without hesitation for the promise of the good.


	10. September 2, 2015

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a Tumblr post by @booklove22, this series appears on my Tumblr (@storyteller0311) as visual journal entries.
> 
> The series in its original form, still ongoing, can be found here: http://storyteller0311.tumblr.com/oliversjournal
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any of its characters.

**September 2, 2015**

I never want to hear you doubt yourself or my love for you again. I love you and only you. I love how you look and who you are and nothing will ever change that. Those neighborhood women you overheard at the block party can go to hell as far as I'm concerned.

They don't know us. They don't know our stories or what we're capable of. They don't know that you are a genius who runs circles around me and kicks ass both in the field and behind a computer. And they don't know me either, that I'm more than just a set of abs.

On the island, Slade didn't know what to do with me. I was pathetic. I couldn't fight and I really wasn't interested in learning. I just wanted to go home. I could barely do 4 pull ups in the beginning. Forget the salmon ladder...

Believe it or not, the first really useful thing I did was fix the crashed plane's radio. It took me days, but I did it. Even if we couldn't call out on it. My Dad had a plane – did I ever tell you that? He did his own maintenance and I helped. I really enjoyed it.

While we couldn't call out, we were able to listen in to Fyers' radio frequency and find out what he was doing – something with a missile launcher. Slade and I knew we needed to do something or else Fyers was going to kill a lot of people.

We infiltrated the camp and stole the launcher's circuit board. It disabled the launcher and gave us leverage to make Fyers get us a way off the island. But our plan backfired.

We hid the circuit board and set up a meeting with Fyers. Along with his men, he brought Yao Fei and a young woman, Shado. Fyers gave us an ultimatum. Give up the circuit board or he'd kill Shado. But Shado didn't give him a chance. She escaped from her bonds and together the 4 of us tok out enough of Fyers' men to flee. But Yao Fei was shot in the process and we had to leave him behind.

The only good thing that came out of it was that we rescued Shado. The circuit board was gone when we got back to where we hid it.

The whole meeting was a trap.


	11. September 7, 2015

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a Tumblr post by @booklove22, this series appears on my Tumblr (@storyteller0311) as visual journal entries.
> 
> The series in its original form, still ongoing, can be found here: http://storyteller0311.tumblr.com/oliversjournal
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any of its characters.

**September 7, 2015**

How long were you standing there watching me this afternoon? Was it just a few seconds? A few minutes? Or longer? If you hadn't sneezed I wouldn't have even realized you were there. In a way that's unbelievable... I've spend the last 8 years completely attuned to my surroundings, knowing without seeing what was around me. Knowing who was there, what was coming.

But this time away, it's done something – and it's not just the fact that I'm comfortable with you in a way that I've never been truly comfortable with anyone else. It's given me the ability to just breathe. To be. To think.

And that's what I was doing this afternoon. Just watching the clouds go by, feeling the breeze blow through the grass. Thinking. About the past, about the present. About the future and what it holds for us.

I worry that you're bored here. That you miss it. The action, the challenge.

When Shado first taught me to shoot a bow and arrow she said I thought too much. And that's why I was having trouble hitting my target.

I told her no one had ever accused me of thinking too much before. Even today, I know that I often act before I think.

If it hadn't been for Shado, I'd never be the archer I am today. She made me slap a bowl of water to build up strength and then coached me to try again every time I missed the tree I was aiming for. We both knew, Slade too, that time was of the essence and all three of us needed to be able to fight. We couldn't afford to wait and hide. Not if we wanted to rescue Yao Fei and not if we wanted to be prepared when Fyers' men would undoubtedly find us.

We didn't have as much time as we thought we would. I still was having trouble hitting my mark when Yao Fei appeared in the plane one day. He hadn't escaped. He had led Fyers' men right to us.

Instead of betraying us, though, Yao Fei had actually saved us. In a last ditch effort to kill us, Fyers had been on the verge of burning down the forest with us in it.

We were taken to the camp where we learned what Fyers' plan was – to shoot down a commercial jet.

But his plan to take down the plane wasn't the only thing Fyers' revealed. It became quickly apparent why it was so important for him to find Yao Fei on that island. Why he had gone as far as kidnapping Shado and bringing her there as leverage. He needed a scapegoat.

When Yao Fei initially refused, Fyers shot Shado and Slade and knocked me to the ground. Almost instantly, Yao Fei gave in, agreeing to put on his military uniform and record a video taking the blame for the plane's crash. Before recording the video, he managed to press a knife into my hands while Fyers was distracted, an action that would save us in the end.

The missile was ready to launch at the approaching plane and Yao Fei recorded the video. And then his usefulness to Fyers was over. Before any of us could even blink, Fyers shot him in the head.

And all hell broke loose.


	12. September 13, 2015

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Inspired by a Tumblr post by @booklove22, this series appears on my Tumblr (@storyteller0311) as visual journal entries.
> 
> The series in its original form, still ongoing, can be found here: http://storyteller0311.tumblr.com/oliversjournal
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Arrow or any of its characters.

**September 13, 2015**

I can't believe you think Daniel Craig is the best James Bond. How can you deny the absolute James Bond perfection that is Sean Connery? We're going to have to have a James Bond marathon before the new movie comes out.

Oh, wait. I get it. You think Daniel Craig is hot. I see how it is.

When I was a kid I always used to think how unrealistic the action was in James Bond movies. Crazy and evil supervillains with fights on tanks and planes and things you couldn't even imagine. But then I ended up on Lian Yu and I saw things, battles made for the movies. Things you couldn't explain.

We were numb as the fact that Fyers' had killed Yao Fei in front of us sunk in. Shado sobbed next to me, devastation written across her face. Fyers didn't miss a beat. The plane was rapidly approaching the island's airspace and he proceeded with launching the missile. But I still had Yao Fei's knife in my hand. And quickly I cut my bonds, freeing Slade and Shado.

We fought back, taking out as many of Fyers' men as we could. But it was too late. The missile had been launched and was rapidly making its way towards the plane.

Our only hope was to get to the missile launcher and reprogram it, diverting the missile from its target. Shado and I struggled to get to the launcher and throw off Fyers' men. She said she could reprogram it if we could get to the control panel. But in her attempt to fight off a mercenary, they both got thrown off the launcher.

You'd have been proud of me, because somehow I got to the control panel and hit the right buttons, deviating the missile from its course. But instead of just missing the plane, the missile came back towards the ground, striking Fyers' camp.

Darkness fell over the island and I combed through the remains of the camp searching for Slade and Shado. That's where I found the trunk, the one I carried with me all along, Yao Fei's bow inside. As I picked it up and nocked an arrow, Slade made his presence known, laughing that of course I stopped the missile but made a mess in the process.

As we asked one another where Shado was, our question was quickly answered as Fyers appeared in the distance, holding her at gunpoint. Despite his bravado and joking, Slade was injured and in no position to fight. It was up to me, with Yao Fei's bow and arrow, to take down Fyers.

Fyers goaded me, promising a way off the island if only I surrendered. But I had learned enough never to trust him. So I did what Shado had taught me. I let the arrow fly and watched as it struck Fyers in the chest.

Like a James Bond movie, the dramatic ending, at least for the moment, of our odyssey came to pass.

The villain was dead. And we were alive.

But there wasn't a happily ever after. No triumphant return. The camp was destroyed and so was any hope of getting off the island.

So Slade, Shado and I did what Yao Fei had told me to do.

We went back to the wreckage of the plane and we survived.


End file.
